Read Beach Blondes: June Dreams, July's Promise, August Magic (Summer) for Free Online

away.
    A light!
    Summer slitted her eyes and stared, barely able to breathe. A blue-white light emanated from the kitchen.
    The humming stopped and was replaced by a mixture of whistling and humming.
    The light in the kitchen disappeared. From the darkness came the distinctive sound of a pop-top. The whistling stopped. A satisfied sigh.
    A lighter flickered, and then a candle, a brilliant yellow pinpoint of light in the dark, illuminating a startling sight.
    “Aaargh!” the figure yelled.
    “Aaargh!” Summer jumped back as if she’d been electrocuted, snatching her sheet around her like a shield.
    “Wh-what are you—”
    “Who—what are you—get out of here!”
    “Chill out, don’t shoot or anything!”
    “Don’t kill me, I’m from Minnesota!”
    A silence, during which Summer listened to the panic-driven jackhammer beat of her heart. Her teeth rattled.
    “Did you just say ‘Don’t kill me, I’m from Minnesota’?”
    “Uh-uh-uh-uh, yes,” Summer chattered.
    “What’s Minnesota got to do with anything?”
    “Uh, nothing, I guess.”
    “Who are you?” he asked, coming warily closer.
    Now Summer could see that he wasn’t a monster. He could still be an ax murderer, but not a monster. He had long, wet, shoulder-length blond hair and wore only a madras bathing suit that clung to him damply.
    “I’m Summer. Sum-sumsum-sum Summer Smith.”
    “Oh.”
    “Who are you?” Summer managed to ask. Her voice sounded strained with the tightness in her throat and the still-chattering teeth.
    “I’m Diver.”
    “Diver?”
    “Yeah.” He sounded defiant. “Like Summer is some kind of normal name?”
    “What are you doing here?” Summer demanded.
    “What am I doing here?” Diver asked, mildly outraged. He took a sip of his Pepsi and sat the candle down on her desk, balancing it carefully. “What are you doing here?”
    “Living here,” Summer said. “And people know I’m here, so don’t try anything.”
    “ I live here,” Diver said. “At least, I mean, I use the bathroom and the kitchen here. I don’t sleep here.” He pulled out the desk chair. “I usually sleep up on the roof.”
    “You can’t live here; my aunt owns this place.”
    “Oh. She’s that rich lady with really big hair?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, I don’t care who owns it,” Diver said. “I live here. I’ve been coming here for…for like months.”
    “Fine, I’m not going to call the cops or anything,” Summer said. “Just go away and don’t come back. Okay?” She was gaining courage from the fact that Diver hadn’t done anything sudden. Yet. And, not that you could tell just by looking, but he didn’t look dangerous. In fact, by the candle’s light he looked…beautiful. There was no other word for it. Beautiful.
    “Where am I supposed to take a shower and cook breakfast and sleep when it rains?”
    Summer shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d have an answer for that,” Diver said triumphantly.
    “You sure can’t live with me, and I live here, so that’s it,” Summer said flatly.
    “Go stay in your aunt’s house,” Diver said. “She must have plenty of room.”
    “I can’t,” Summer said. “I can’t stay there, I can’t go home to Bloomington, I have to stay here. I’m stuck.”
    “Me too,” Diver said. “We’re both stuck.”
    “Excuse me, but whatever you’re thinking, forget it,” Summer said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t, like, go out with guys I meet creeping into my room in the middle of the night.”
    “I don’t go out with girls at all.”
    “Oh. Are you…not that it’s any of my business. I mean, I don’t have a problem if you’re gay or anything like that…”
    Diver tilted back his head and looked at her with a certain distant intensity. “I no longer involve myself with women. They disturb my wa. ”
    “Wa?”
    “My wa. My inner harmony. Haven’t you ever read any eastern philosophy?” Diver smiled placidly, looking